Crate for piano benches and the like



Feb, 6, 1923.

H. G. BEHRENS CRATE FOR PIANO BENCHES AND THE LIKE Filed May 22, 1922Patent Feb. 6, i923.

4 1 5 were 3;"! "a S' HENRY G. BEHBIENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORT0 TONK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

CRATE FOR PIANO BENGHES THE LIKE.

Application filed May 22. 1922. Serial No. 562,665.

To all whom i2? may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. BnrmnNs, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Crate for PianoBenches and the like; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame..

My invention relates to boxes, crates or the like as'employed forshipping objects which are likely to be damaged by the rough handling ofsuch packages, and in general aims to provide an exceedingly simplecrate or box construction both for protecting such objects while intransit and for enabling even inexperienced persons to unpack theobjects without damage.

In shipping piano benches, tables or similar articles of furniturehaving highly polished tops and relatively frail legs, it is quiteimportant that allportions of such an article of furniture shou'ldbewell protectedagainst the likelihood of damage to the same while intransit, and it is likewise important that it should be easy for even aninexperienced person to unpack such items of furniture without damagingthe same. However, the high cost of lumber, together with the highfreight and express rates make it undesirable to employ heavy packingboxes for such a purpose, while the interposing of a suitable filling(such as excelsior) between the a ticle of furniture and the walls ofthe container adds to the cost and is likely to leave an imprint on theI varnish. Furthermore, unless adequate care is used by the partyunpacking the box or crate in which such an article of furniture wasshipped, this article may easily be damaged during the unpacking and inthe case of a polished article of furniture such damage cannot readilybe repaired.

My invention aims to provide an arrangement whereby such an article offurniture to be amply protected against ordinary article within a box orcrate but entirely out of contact with the walls of the latter,

article can readily he slid out upon the latter when it is to beremoved. Furthermore, I aim to provide all of these arrangements in anexceedingly simple construction which can readily be employed byinexperienced persons and which will require relatively little and cheaplumber. v V

Illustrative of my invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a crateembodying my invention and suitable for packing a piano bench.

Fig. 2 is a central and vertical longitudinal section through the samecrate with a piano bench supported in it by a single carrier member.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken upwardly through Fig. 2alongthe line 3-3 of that figure. f

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through another form of crate embodying myinvention, showing the same as employing two car-. rier members forholding a table in a substantially floating position. I

Fig; 5 is a perspective view of the single carrier member used in,connection with the crate in Fig. 1 for supporting a piano bench afterthe manner of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the two carrier members employedfor support ing the table in Fig. 4. 1

Fig. 7 is an elevation of one ofthe ends of thecrate of Fig. 1 as itappears when bodily detached from the crate.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through a crate embodying my invention andarranged for packing two benches with the upper one inverted.

In packing a piano bench afterthe man-- nor of Figs. 1. to 3 inclusive,I provide a crate having interior dimensions somewhat greater than thecorresponding dimensions of the bench, so that the crate will be adaptedto freely house the bench.' This crate desirably has a top 1- formed ofa substantially single board so as to entirely close the topwall of thecrate which is adj acentto the I olished top, 2 of the bench. It alsodesira ly has side portions'il and end portions 4- extending downwardlyfrom the top of the crate alongside the sides and ends of the bench.These wall portions are all fastened to suitable uprights 5 whichdesirably are interbraced by bracing strips 6 and 7 disposed in anysuitable manner, as shown for example in Fig. 1.

Instead of providing a closed bottom for the crate, ll merely provide apair of bottom strips 8 each of which extends longitudinally of thecrate under one pair of the legs 9 of the bench. However, these legs donot rest upon the bottom strips- 8 when the bench is packed. Instead, Isupport the bench substantially in a floating position,

entirely out of direct contact with all wall portions of the crate. Forthis purpose, employ a carrier 'memberflO having suitably locatedperforatons l1 for receiving screws which extend upwardly into the ends'12 of the piano bench and which fasten the carrier member securely tothe bottom of the bench proper. The main portion of the carrier memberis made of a length closely corresponding to the distance between theupper end panels 4 of the crate, and each end of the carrier has anextension 13 proj ecting'beyond this main portion into a correspondingopening in the adjacent end panel of the crate, both the said projectionand the said opening being of less width.

than the main portion 10 of the carrier member. F or this purpose, Idesirably form each end panel 4 of two abutting portions one of whichhas a recess 14 opening towards the other portion. after the manner ofFig. 1, so that this recess in one of the panel portions will cooperatewith the opposed wall o1 the companion panel portion in affording thedesired perforation in the panel.

' Thus arranged, it will be evident from the drawings that the carriermember has ends which are practically tenoned to fit into theperforations in the respective end panels of the crate, and by disposingthese perforations at a greater distance from the bottom strips 8 of thecrate than the height of the legs up to the bottom of the carrier'member 10,-1 cause the'bench to be sup--- ported with its legs out ofcontact with the bottom of the crate By making the interior length ofthe crate and the corresponding length of the main port-ion of thecarrier member greater than theextreme length of l the bench, I canreadily cause the bench to be held entirely out of contact with the endwalls of the crate, so that my exceedingly simple arrangement enables meto support the bench entirely out of contact with the Walls of thecrate. 'Moreover, by providing ample space between the top 2 of thebench and the top 1 of the crate, I can from. the appended claims.

readily prevent this crate top from being forced .down against the topof the bench even it subjected to blows which would tend to dent or warpthe top of the crate.- jConone end of the crate is detached, the legsadjacent to that end will drop upon the bottom strips 8 without anappreciable jar, after which the bench can readily be drawn out through.the opened end of the crate as only its feet will be, in contact withthe walls of thecrate, To facilitate such an easy unpacking, I-desirablyarrange the crate ends so that each is' a unit which can readily bedetached from the adjacent walls of the crate. By using crossed braces 7of thin wood, this can readily beaccomplished in a quite light and cheapcrate end construction after the manner of Fig. 7.

However, while I have heretofore illustrated and described my inventionas embodied in a crate designed for packing a relatively narrow article(such as a bench) ,and employing only a single carrier member,

I do not wish to be limited to this use of my invention, nor to thecrate construction thus disclosed. Obviously, the details ofconstruction and arrangement might be varied in many ways withoutdeparting either from the spirit of my invention or For example, Fig. 4shows a crate used for packing a table and having two carrier members 16fastened to the bottom of the table, each carrier member havingcylindrical end portions fitted into corresponding holes bored inthe'end walls of the crate.

Neither do ll wish to be limited to the employment of myinvention in acrate or box housing only a single article. For example, Fig. 8 shows asection through a crate as [used according to my invention for shippingtwopiano benches, with the upper one inverted, thereby reducing theshipping space, the packing cost and the freight overv and acarriermember detaohably fastened to the said article, the carrier memberhaving end portions respectively socketed in the said perforations andhaving other portions respectively engaging the inner faces of the saidwalls, the perforations being so located .that when the carrier memberhas its ends socketed therein the article fastened to the said member issupported by the latter out of contact with the walls of the box orcrate.

2. Means for packing a piano bench or other article of furniture,comprising a crate that when the carrier member has its ends socketedtherein the article fastened to the said member is supported by thelatter out of contact with the walls of the box or crate.

3. Means for packing a piano bench or other article of furniture,comprising a crate or box freely housing the said article and havingperforations in two opposed walls, and a carrier member detachablyfastened to the said article, the carrier member hav-' ing end portionsrespectively socketed in the said perforations and having other portionsrespectively engaging the inner faces of the said Walls, theperforations being so located that when the carrier member has its endsso'cketed therein the article fastened to the said member is supportedby the latter out of contact with both the bottom and the top of the boxor crate, the box or crate having bottom portions extending parallel tothe carrier member and upon which the article is adapted to be slid outof the box or crate after detaching one of the said opposed wallsthereof.

ajMeans for packing a table orbench,

comprising a carrier member detachably fastened'to the under side of thetop of the table or bench and projecting at both of its ends beyond thesaid top and having a straight tenon at each end, and a box or cratefreely housing the table or bench and having each of two opposed wallsequipped with a perforation slidably entered by one of the said tenons;the said perforations being further from the bottom wall of the box orcrate than the height of the table or bench to the carrier member, sothat the.

table or bench is supported out of contact with the said bottom wall.

5. Packing means as per claim 4, in which each of the said two opposedwalls includes a pair of superposed boards one of which has a recessadjacent to the other, the said recess cooperating with the opposed edgeof the adjacent board to afford the perforation for receiving the tenon.

6.. Means for packing-a table or bench. comprising a box or crate oflarger interior dimensions than the exterior dimensions of the table orbench, the box or crate having alined perforations in two opposed walls.and a carrier member detachably secured to the table, or bench andhaving shoulders respectively engaging the opposed faces of the saidwalls, the carrier member also having extension portions projectingbeyond the shoulders and respectively socketed in the said perforations,the perforations in each of the said walls being spaced-further from thewalls transversely of the latter than the corresponding spacing betweenthe extension portions and the last named walls.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, May 17th,

HENRY G. BEHRENS.

